Chad Dickerson asks “What was your first Amazon order?”
So I went into Amazon, flipped back through my transaction history, and found two books I ordered on December 17, 1997. This is back when Amazon mostly sold books. 
The two books were The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea and Full-Time RVing : A Complete Guide to Life on the Open Road. Both were Christmas gifts; I’m pretty sure the latter was for my sister, as support material for her Airstream. Not a big seller, but still available. I can’t remember which family member received The Perfect Storm. Oh well. Good book (and movie), all the same. And still for sale, new or used.
Since Christmas is approaching once more, and I’m not a fan of shopping, I wouldn’t be surprised if I make my first Amazon.com purchase since June (the pre-order of Beautiful Evidence).
Thanks, Chad, for sparking this walk down memory lane. Nine years later, I’m still a customer, albeit a sporadic one.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Chad Dickerson // Dec 2, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Sounds like the Christmas season in 1997 was the tipping point for online shopping (and also sounds like you are a more thoughtful planner than me — can’t believe I waited until December 23 to order my mom’s gift!)
2 Ryan Tranquilla // Dec 8, 2006 at 11:44 am
You prompted me to go back and check, too. 1999, gifts for Lori and my parents. Scant, though increasing to a few books, usage for the next few years. Then an explosion in 1994. Birth of child = extensive online shopping? Discuss….
3 Brian C // Dec 13, 2006 at 9:10 pm
I can’t believe you still have your original login for amazon.com. I must have changed it 5 times after previous email accounts went under (the sites themselves).
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